Zerahiah the Greek

Zerahiah the Greek

Rabbi Zerachiah the Greek (in Hebrew, "Zerachiah ha-Yavani" or "ha-Yewani"; sometimes known by the acronymistic nickname "Ra'Za'H") was a Greek-Jewish ethicist who resided in the Byzantine Empire in the thirteenth or fourteenth century. Of his life no details are known, except that he was the author of an ethical work entitled "Sefer ha-Yashar" (not to be confused with the many other Jewish writings of the same name); this work was confused with Jacob Tam's halakhic work of the same name and erroneously attributed to the renowned tosafist. This error was detected by Menahem Lonzano, who, in his poem "Derek Ḥayyim" ("Shete Yadot," p. 122), expressly states that the ethical work in question belonged to Zerahiah. Lonzano did not succeed, however, in correctly establishing the identity of its author, for a second error immediately arose. Since Zerahiah ha-Yewani had the same initials as Zerachiah Ha-Levi Gerondi, the author of the well-known "Sefer ha-Ma'or," the "Sefer ha-Yashar" was attributed by some bibliographers to the latter.

The "Sefer ha-Yashar" is divided into eighteen short chapters, and treats of the ethical principles which underlie the relation of man to God. It is an imitation of Bahya ibn Paquda's "Hobot ha-Lebabot", which Zerahiah acknowledges in his preface that he had studied, although he found it too long and too profound for the average reader. The indebtedness of the "Sefer ha-Yashar" to the "Hobot ha-Lebabot" is especially evident in the first chapter, entitled "Sod Beri'at 'Olam," which is simply a brief summary of the chapters called "Sha'ar ha-Yihud" and "Sha'ar ha-Behinah" in Bahya's work. The "Sefer ha-Yashar" was first published at Constantinople in 1526, and since then has passed through twenty-four editions.

Resources

* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=109&letter=Z Zerahiah ha-Yewani.] Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, 1901-1906; which cites the following bibliography::*De Rossi, "Dizionario", s.v. Tam, Jacob;:*Nachman Krochmal, in Kerem Ḥemed, iv. 272;:*Eliakim Carmoly, in Jost's "Annalen", i. 155;:*Moritz Steinschneider, Cat. Bodl. cols. 2586-2588.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • History of the Jews in Italy — The Great Synagogue of Rome Part of a series of articles on …   Wikipedia

  • History of the Jews in Spain — Part of a series of articles on Jews and Judaism …   Wikipedia

  • Immanuel the Roman — Born Immanuel ben Solomon ben Jekuthiel 1261 (1261) Rome Died 1328 (aged 66–67) Fermo Occupation Poet Nationality Italian Immanuel ben Solomon ben Jekuthiel of Rome …   Wikipedia

  • TRANSLATION AND TRANSLATORS — The earliest Jewish translations, apart from possible examples in the Bible, are the Greek version of the Pentateuch and, later, other books of the Bible, which were made to fill a need in the Greek speaking Jewish community of Alexandria and… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • POETRY — This article is arranged according to the following outline (for modern poetry, see hebrew literature , Modern; see also prosody ): biblical poetry introduction the search for identifiable indicators of biblical poetry the presence of poetry in… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • LITERATURE, JEWISH — Literature on Jewish themes and in languages regarded as Jewish has been written continuously for the past 3,000 years. What the term Jewish literature encompasses, however, demands definition, since Jews have lived in so many countries and have… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • PIYYUT — (Heb. פִּיּוּט; plural: piyyutim; from the Greek ποιητής), a lyrical composition intended to embellish an obligatory prayer or any other religious ceremony, communal or private. In a wider sense, piyyut is the totality of compositions composed in …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • PHILOSOPHY, JEWISH — This article is arranged according to the following outline: WHAT IS JEWISH PHILOSOPHY? recent histories of jewish philosophy biblical and rabbinic antecedents bible rabbinic literature hellenistic jewish philosophy philo of alexandria biblical… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • MEDICINE — From the beginning of their history until modern times Jews have exercised a tremendous influence on the development of medical science. They have always been solicitous in their care for the sick and held the medical profession in great esteem.… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • ARISTOTLE° — (fourth century B.C.E.), Greek philosopher and founder of the peripatetic school. Aristotle achieved a unique rank in the estimation of Muslim and Jewish medieval philosophers, who often refer to him simply as the philosopher. Maimonides stated… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”